In modern usage, the term "dictator" is generally used to describe
a leader who holds and/or abuses an extraordinary amount of
personal power, especially the power to make laws without effective restraint by a legislative assembly .

The term "dictator" is comparable to, but not synonymous with, the
ancient concept of a tyrant; initially "tyrant", like "dictator",
did not carry negative connotations. A wide variety of leaders
coming to power in a number of different kinds of regimes, such as
military juntas, single-party states and civilian
governments under personal rule, have been described as dictators .

Roman Origin

In the Roman Republic the term
"Dictaintor" did not have the negative meaning it has later
assumed. Rather, a Dictator was a person given sole power (unlike
the normal Roman republican practice, where rule was divided
between two equal Consuls) for a specific
limited period, in order to deal with an emergency. At the end of
his term, the Dictator was supposed to hand over back to the normal
Consular rule and give account of his actions - and Roman Dictators
usually did.

The term started to get its modern negative meaning with Julius Caesar making himself a Dictator
without a set limit to his term, and keeping the title until his
assassination (which was itself largely due to republican diehards
resenting his keeping indefinite dictatorial powers).

Garibaldi as a positive dictator

Still, even in the 19th Century, the term "Dictator" did not always
have negative connotations. For example, the Italian revolutionary
Garibaldi, during his famous Expedition of the Thousand in
1860, proclaimed himself "Dictator of Sicily", which did not prevent him from being
extremely popular in Italian and international public opinion. His
usage of the term was clearly derived from the original Roman sense
- i.e., a person taking power for a limited time in order to deal
with an emergency (in this case, the need to unite Italy) and with
the task done Garibaldi handed over power to the government of
Victor Emmanuel II of
Italy.

Garibaldi's case was, however, an exception. In general, the term
"dictator" came to be a negative term, not a title used by rulers
to call themselves but a term used by the foes of an oppressive
ruler.

Modern era

In popular usage in western nations, "dictatorship" is often
associated with brutality and oppression . As a result, it is often
also used as a term of abuse for political opponents, for example,
Henry Clay's dominance in Congress—first as Speaker of
the House and later as a member of the Senate—led to his nickname, "the
Dictator." The term has also come to be associated with megalomania. Many dictators create a cult of personality and have come to
favor increasingly grandiloquent titles and honours for themselves.
For instance, Idi Amin Dada, who had been a
British army lieutenant prior to Uganda's independence from Britain in October 1962,
subsequently styled himself as "His Excellency President for LifeField Marshal Al Hadji Dr. Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and
Fishes of the Sea and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and
Uganda in Particular". In the movie "The Great Dictator" (1940), Charlie Chaplin satirized not only Adolf Hitler but the institution of
dictatorship itself.

The association between the dictator and the military is a common one; many dictators take great
pains to emphasize their connections with the military and often
wear military uniforms. In some cases, this is perfectly legitimate;
Francisco Franco was a lieutenant
general in the Spanish Army before he became Chief of State of Spain; Manuel Noriega was officially commander of
the Panamanian Defense Forces. In other cases, the
association is mere pretense.

Modern use in formal titles

Because of the negative associations, modern leaders very rarely
(if ever) use the term in their formal titles. In the 19th century,
however, official use was more common.